Maria Angela Astorch

The work of Maria Angela Astorch is marked by the foundation and direction of several monasteries in Spain. On May 19, 1614, she was sent to Zaragoza to found the monastery of Our Lady of the Angels, where she spent thirty years as mistress of novices, secretary, vicar, and then abbess starting in 1627. In 1645, she left to found a monastery of reparation in Murcia, dedicated to the "Exaltation of the Blessed Sacrament." She served there as abbess and mistress of formation for sixteen years, introducing daily communion. Under her leadership, the community overcame a plague epidemic in 1648 and devastating floods in 1651 and 1653. She stepped down from her office in 1661 and died on December 2, 1665.

From the moment of her death, her reputation for holiness spread. The nuns discovered on her chest a wound interpreted as a stigma of love in the heart. Her body, which remained perfectly incorrupt, is preserved in Murcia. Her spiritual writings (autobiographical accounts, correspondence) were examined and declared to be in conformity with orthodoxy. The informative process opened in 1668. Pope Pius IX signed the decree introducing her cause for beatification on May 12, 1853, and Pope Leo XIII declared her Venerable on June 13, 1890. Despite the desecration of her body by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), her remains were preserved and continue to be venerated in Murcia.

On February 11, 1982, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing a miracle obtained through her intercession, dispensing the cause from a second miracle. Maria Angela Astorch was solemnly beatified by John Paul II on May 23, 1982, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. During the celebration, the Pope presented her as the "mystic of the breviary" (mística del breviario), highlighting how her mystical life was nourished by the official liturgy of the Church. Her liturgical feast is set for December 2, the day of her death.

The spirituality of Maria Angela Astorch rests upon a deeply liturgical contemplation. Nicknamed the "mystic of the breviary," she found in the Divine Office and the Eucharist the source of her mystical experiences. Although without formal theological training, she possessed an infused knowledge of the Scriptures, citing long biblical passages in Latin. Her interior life was centered on the Sacred Heart, the Passion, the Eucharist, and the Childhood of Jesus, as well as on a familiar relationship with twelve heavenly protectors (her "heavenly consistory"). As a formator, she refused any uniform rigidity, helping her novices to grow by learning to "walk at the pace of God."